Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1887-11-26
The AONOURAS COAST.

rOuudings-AnIonS the tnrib--
Their Characeristics aud Gus
toms.
l WAS awakened the other morning.
saws letter from Truxllo, by the
child sh voice of o,e of our passengers.
little girl, saying in II disappointed
tone: Why. them amt houses; them's
boxes" got up and found that we
were lying at anchor on the quaint
old-fashioncd town of TruXillo.
This little Spanish settlement IS built
on an eminence AMI is approached bya
very steep paved load at the eastern
end of the town. The seashore side
IS crowded with fort iications, very old
and dilapidated. and rs u means of de-
tense utterly useless
The approaches from the interior of
| Honduras TO TruxillO are mere trails
! through the Doun.a.ns. The only
means of transportation is by pack
mules. The Aguaa Navigation COM
pany has been formed, in order to open
up a new road to tue interior by the
rivers Aguan and Roman. They are
now at work with large dredge. cut
ting passage through from the Bay
of Truxllo to these rivers. They have
large concession. and tn $ will open
up 4 great mineral as we'll as fruit-pro.
ducing region.
Most of the houses of TruXillo are
long. lOw-roofed. one-story dwellings.
well adapted to tho climate. Very
substantial. l am told they are: indeed
so,ue of them hage.been standing hun
dreds of years. They are anything but
picturesque. looking totally unorna-
nnnted on the outside. Il seemed to
me that all the houses looked alike;
in fact an air oil sameness pcryaded
the place. #..s
The surrounding scenery on the
other hand cOmpensates Tor the dull
ness and makes beautiful frame for
very plain picture.
Behind the town is range OF noun
tains thickly wooded, with little stream
lets trickling down to the sea. In the
valleys on either side are Carib vii
liages one. the will age ou the K Q
I Crvsstaiijs. the other OIL the Rio Negro.
We visited the Carib town on the hio
Crystallis and found it m uch larger
settlement than it appeared to be.
These so-called CARDS are. prOperl '
speaking, not Car bs, but the decend-
ants of an African tribe Yet they
most decidedly object to being classet
as negroes, and boast that they have
never been slaves. They are quite
like the negro, with this exception
that they are scrupulously clean abou
their persons.
As IS common among most people:
of crude education. the women are thu
drudges. They are the .hewers o
wood and the drawers of water, and j
l. not uncommon 10 see a mother pad
ding a dory-load OF bananas, with he
infant squatting in the bottom Of tn
boat.
When a man among the Carib
wishes to take unto himself wife IN
hews himself out dorv, and. with tn
assistance of his friends and a. Jug o
rum. gathers together the wherew thai
to build his Int which consists OF
few poles, pile of clay to form tn
floor and to fill in The wicker-worl
sides of the house. and some leaves o
the cohuue palm to thstch the roo
with. He then clears of q patch @
ground and plants a few ears of corn
and some yams and eassava root
This he calls his plantation, be j
then considered an eligible swain, an
is in a position to choose 4 partne
from among the dusky naiden..
The plantation is entirely loOke'
after by the woman. She gathers til
corn to make tortillas. and digs tn
cassava root. to make her bread.
visited Carib house and watched til
operation Of cassava bread-making
Thev first wash the root. then crate
on a poard stu1ded with small, shar
particles of flint to form a rough SUI
face; then slram it to extract the sun
plus Juice. which is considered poison
Gus. Their mode OF straning is e>
tremely primitive. The article used 4
a strainer S long snake-like arrange
ment, made from a species OF palmett
grass plated Together, and looks el
actIy like huge serpent 1t abou
eight feet long and about three inche
in diameter, and opens at one enc
The strainer is suspended on hoo
from the raflers. the grated cassava
poured in. then Il heavy weight IS a
tached to the lower end. Which cause
the strainer to contract, and 80 e'
presses the ju ce. After t is tlIourOugl
" strained t is taken out and bake
Into large fat cakes. which form I'll
daily food of the Carib.
These appliances for making ii
cassava bread. together with a cOupl
of stools. table. and the nev.tab
hammock. comprise the furn shings {
the house
While walking through the town "
happened in on the school Thel
were about fit Carib bows. all orderl
! and clean look ng. taught by n your
Spainard. The text books are a
Spanish. the history aud geography
Honduras being the prime pal studie
We had a,leligh:ful ride 0n horsebac
along the beach and up the Rio Cry
tails, where we surprised a numb
of Carib women who were washln
clothes in tn. stream. There the
stood, knee deep IN the water, rinsr
their clothes and putting them to d'
on the stones While riding up hill al
fording the river we gave the hors
the reins and allowed them to choo
their own path, and TO the utter co